Learning from nature

Office: Department of Mechical Engineering, University of Bath, United Kingdom

‘Nature's Wisdom’ was the title of World Expo 2005 in Japan in recognition of the fact that nature has had plenty of solutions to everyday problems. Julian Vincent is one of the frontrunners in turning biology into technology.

Julian Vincent is a biomimetics specialist. He works at the Department of Mechical Engineering of the University of Bath in the UK. He has studied the mechanical design of animals and plants for the last 20 years. Some of the information so gained has been applied to the design and development of novel materials and building structures. ‘Survival of the cheapest’ is Vincent’s paraphrase of Darwin’s most famous observation. Only the cheapest building design will survive. Vincent refers to energy: ’Organisms have to put a lot of it into keeping a delicate balance between the temperatures inside and outside themselves: under hot conditions one needs to lose heat; when it’s cold heat needs to be conserved’.

Some biological mechanisms have been modelled or plagiarised. There are examples of parallel evolution between nature and architecture such as ventilation towers similar to animal structures, and famously the termite's nest is a paradigm. Control in the natural systems is often at a local level, removing the need for integrated control. The sensors and effectors can be closely linked and the overall control is an emergent property of the organism or population.

"At present there is only a 10 percent overlap between biology and technology in terms of the mechanisms used," said Julian Vincent, "So I feel that there is huge potential." One of his developments is "smart" clothing that adapts to changing temperatures. He found his inspiration at Pinecones. "I wanted a nonliving system which would respond to changes in moisture by changing shape," said Vincent. "There are several such systems in plants, but most are very small -- the pinecone is the largest and therefore the easiest to work on." Pinecones respond to warmer temperatures by opening their scales (to disperse their seeds). The smart fabric does the same thing, opening up when it is warm, and shutting tight when cold.